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Vikram Chatwal Taking His 'Dream' to South Beach

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 1111 Collins Avenue [map], Miami Beach, FL, United States, 33139
February 27, 2009 at 11:44 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Earlier this week, we did a drive-by of Miami Hotels and in our short report, we had you guess the hotelier and sometime movie actor who was planning a joint for South Beach. And really, you dear readers make us so proud. While a couple of you guessed Trump, a few others knew it was the one and only Vikram Chatwal.

Yes, Vik is coming to South Beach. Right now, the hotel is still under may-jah construction as it is turning the old Tudor and Palmer House buildings on Collins Avenue into The Dream South Beach. From South Beach USA:

The two historic structures in the heart of South Beach will be renovated and re-designed into a 110-room hotel connected via a glass-enclosed walkway. Dream South Beach will be a high-end, luxury boutique hotel and will contain two food and beverage establishments including a ground-floor restaurant and a glass-enclosed roof-top lounge offering a sophisticated and relaxing environment.

Reportedly, chef Geoffrey Zakarian of Town and Country at the Chambers and Carlton Hotels in NYC, will bring a restaurant to the Dream. There will also be a rooftop lounge.

We contacted a rep for Vikram Chatwal hotels but no further updates about the hotel were given. And the Vikram Chatwal Hotels website says "opening early 2009" but um...yeah.

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Would You Sleep in a Recycled Wine Barrel?

December 17, 2008 at 5:20 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

· Wine Barrels Turned Into Hotel: It's confirmed: Hippies will make hotels out of anything. The newest invention is a hotel created from recycled wine barrels. [TreeHugger]

· The San Fran Hotel Tax Man Cometh: To fund the city's Moscone center and tourism board, San Francisco is adding a $3 tax to a $200 hotel room in the area around Moscone Center and $2 a hotel room elsewhere in the city. [SJ Mercury News]

· Hotels for Rabid Dodger Fans: Didn't baseball season like just end? Nevertheless, hotels already want you to come visit the Dodgers for spring training in Arizona. [LA Times]

· Hotel Woes are "Time"-Worthy: Time magazine profiles the struggles facing hotels in the crappy economy.

· Jane Hotel Causes Protests: The SRO Residents that make-up the wacky fabric of the Jane Hotel are pissed off at the hotel's "rude" construction workers. And they might take protests over to sister properties, the Maritime Hotel and the Waverly Inn. So far, nothing's confirmed.

[Photo: TreeHugger]

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Who's Taking a Naycation This Year?

December 9, 2008 at 5:19 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· Westin Shanghai looks tropical: This photo of the Westin is so festive, almost tropical says Flickr member lhy1. We say it almost doesn't look like a Westin. [HotelChatter Flickr Pool]
· A new travel buzzword?: Chris Elliott talks about a new vacation buzzword called the Naycation. Meaning yo' broke ass ain't going nowhere. [MSNBC]
· Las Vegas for New Years is cheap: Sin City is still expecting high occupancy over New Years but for us hotel guests, we can still get better rates than last year. [KVBC]
· Grand 27 Hotel in Soho rises: This one wasn't even on our radar. But now we want to know--can you see the TrumpHole from here? [Curbed]
· Please don't let this happen: The city of New York is mulling an increase in the city's hotel tax. Room taxes on NYC Hotels are already out of control. [Press Release]

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How to Avoid Hotel Taxes :: Which U.S. Cities Tax You More Than the Rest

August 19, 2008 at 4:00 PM | by abigailmschilling | 0 Comments

These days you can't take a quoted room rate at face value. Before making a decision you must estimate the taxes and fees that will inevitably be added to your bottom line.

With the travel industry struggling, more and more surcharges are sneaking into our bills.

The National Business Travel Association recently conducted a study ranking cities in the United States by hotel and other travel taxes.

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Online Travel Companies Under Pressure To Pay Up Owed Taxes

July 24, 2008 at 10:30 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We've posted before on how several online travel agencies are in hot water with local municipalities over hotel room taxes and it looks like the tug-of-war will be going on for a while.

Several towns and counties have complained that online travel agencies like Expedia, Hotels.com and Travelocity have pocketed hotel room taxes which rightfully belong to the city or county that the hotel is located in.

You know what those taxes are like. You see them on your check-out bill and it usually is listed as a state or city tax or both. For instance, we just checked out of a hotel in NYC and were docked with a NY state tax, an NYC city tax and an occupancy tax, totaling about $45.

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